Monthly Archives: April 2011
Win a conference pass to Webvisions
April 30th, 2011 by Jim Kidwell
We’re giving away a conference pass to Webvisions, the web design conference over on the WebINK blog. In addition to the conference, we’re also giving away books and access to the training session “The New Web Typography: Where the Sexy Is.”
To enter, place a comment on the WebINK blog telling us what is your favorite WebINK font by noon, Friday May 6th. We’ll choose a winner at random from all of the comments.
Good luck!
Apple updates Mac OS X 10.6.7 to fix font issues
April 28th, 2011 by Jim Kidwell
With the initial update to Mac OS X 10.6.7 several bugs were introduced that provided issues with how some applications handled OpenType fonts.
Apple recently released an update to fix these issues:
- Address an issue in which some OpenType fonts don’t display correctly in certain applications
- Resolve issues printing from Preview
- Address an issue with PDF files not opening in third-party PDF viewing applications
- Resolve invalid font errors when printing to PostScript printers
For details: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4605
Download the update here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1377
Pies, Bars and Lines – all from a font?
April 25th, 2011 by Jim Kidwell
Here’s an interesting use of contextual alternates in a font – the creation of Pie, Bar and Line charts! I’ve seen all sorts of typographic goodies baked into fonts, and this is an interesting surprise development.
I could see Chartwell being useful in a number of situations – annual Reports, daily business sales reports, etc.
Congratulations TK Type. What a fun creation.
Tekserve seminar: Maintain Brand Consistency with Suitcase Fusion 3
April 19th, 2011 by Jim Kidwell
If you’re in the NYC area, and have been wondering about how effective font management can help your workflow, I’d like to invite you to join me at a special seminar featuring Suitcase Fusion 3 at Tekserve this month.
This seminar will cover:
- How font management can help your creative workflow.
- How font auto-activation plug-ins work with creative applications.
- The process of previewing and comparing fonts.
- How Font Sense provides accurate font matching.
- How you can maintain brand consistency by using web fonts from the WebINK web font service.
Event details:
- Thursday, April 28th, 6:00 p.m.
- Tekserve, 119 West 23rd Street, New York, NY (between 6th & 7th Avenues)
- Cost: FREE
Register to attend this event at least 24 hours in advance. It might fill up, so please register as soon as you know that you can make it.
Click here for a complete list of upcoming seminars and events at Tekserve. of the fun new features that are available in Suitcase Fusion
Digital asset management forum featuring DesignPac (1800FLOWERS)
April 18th, 2011 by Edward Smith
Join us for a one-day, exclusive event featuring real-world implementations with a focus on digital asset management (DAM) strategies and solutions. At this forum you’ll see how DAM enables organizations to streamline their creative and image workflows. You’ll learn best practices and effective technology usage to centralize your rich media files for easy organization, access and distribution of your digital assets both internally and externally
- FEATURING: DesignPac (1-800Flowers) Case Study: Leveraging Digital Media for Maximum Efficiency
Guest speaker: Michelle Eatough, DesignPac - DATE: Thursday, May 5, 2011
- TIME: 9 a.m. — 3:00 p.m. (includes hosted lunch)
- LOCATION: University Center, Chicago, IL
Join us to:
- Find out how DesignPac, a member of the 1-800Flowers Enterprise and the creative force behind the leading online retailer 1-800BASKETS, maximizes efficiency by using digital asset management to find, reuse, and repurpose design files while ensuring correct use of branded and rights managed media.
- Learn DAM best practices for creative agencies and corporate marketing departments with a focus on digital asset distribution.
- Participate in roundtable and workflow discussions while networking with your peers.
Welsh Assembly Government uses Portfolio Server for efficient image management
April 14th, 2011 by Edward Smith
At the digital asset management (DAM) solutions seminar in London, The Welsh Assembly Government shared their successes in using Extensis Portfolio Server to accomplish organizational goals, reduce costs, and increase revenue as a part of the Wales On View image centralization project.
Below is the presentation from Mark Thomas, the Image Resource Manager for Welsh Assembly Government.
Webvisionary Awards Submission Deadline This Week – April 15
April 13th, 2011 by Jim Kidwell
Have a website design that you think kicks all others to the curb? Get all of the accolades, high-fives and awards that you deserve by submitting your for consideration in the Webvisionary awards!
This is a great competition, and we’re happy to sponsor the awards this year.
Submit your work here:
Best of luck to you and your designs!
Learn about server-based font management at Lunch and Learn: Chicago
April 12th, 2011 by Jim Kidwell
We’d like to invite you to join us and other creative professionals for a presentation and discussion about server-based font management at an upcoming lunch session.
We plan to cover:
- The benefits of using server-based font management
- How to keep fonts synchronized across multiple machines
- The importance of font licensing and how to maintain compliance
- How to prevent unlicensed “rogue” fonts from entering your workflow
Event Details:
- Wednesday, April 27, 2011
- 12 – 1:30 PM (includes hosted lunch)
- University Center, Chicago, IL
If you would like to attend, please RSVP as soon as possible. Pre-registration is required as space is limited.
We hope that you will join us.
Y&R, McCann Worldgroup and font management with Universal Type Server
April 11th, 2011 by Jim Kidwell
We are happy to let you know that two of the leading worldwide marketing agencies have implemented Universal Type Server to centralize and manage font use across multiple workgroups, offices and divisions.
Young & Rubicam and McCann Worldgroup, both worldwide marketing agency leaders with expansive creative teams, incorporate fonts into their work for some of the most elite global brands. Both agencies selected Universal Type Server for its superior capabilities in managing font compliance, synchronization of teams, cross-platform capabilities and proven track record in increasing efficiencies for IT staff and creative users.
With 186 offices in 90 countries, Young & Rubicam manages a high volume of fonts, as new versions arrive daily from their hundreds of customers. They replaced their multiple font repositories with Universal Type Server to better manage license usage and improve font conflict issues. Young & Rubicam achieved a conflict-free font workflow with only approved and uncorrupted fonts.
“Young & Rubicam deployed Universal Type Server as we sought a simplified way to manage fonts and ensure all of our creative users were using the same versions,” said Herman Brown – VP, Director of Technologies, Young & Rubicam. “Universal Type Server not only standardizes the way our team is using fonts, but has increased consistency and efficiency by providing a single location where our creative users can quickly access them with no question as to whether they are the right versions.”
McCann Worldgroup is the largest marketing agency network in the world. Their installation of Universal Type Server in McCann West standardized what had been a wide variety of font solutions in place on multiple platforms. McCann West achieved consistent use of fonts across six key divisions, while ensuring everyone was in sync and using approved fonts.
“At McCann West, Universal Type Server is used for all creative users, no matter what type of work is their specialty- print, web or broadcast,” said Seth Anderson, VP, IT Director, McCann West. “It is important for us that our solution works on both Mac OS X and Windows. Additionally, with 75 percent of our creative teams working exclusively on laptop computers, having the ability to keep mobile users in sync is incredibly important to us.”
Universal Type Server 2 brings together the highest performing, most scalable font server in the industry with outstanding client usability, a high-performing server and superior Active Directory Integration.
How Extensis used SCVNGR at the SXSW WebINK Party
April 8th, 2011 by Edward Smith
For our SXSW “Graffiti Lounge” WebINK party there was much to see and do with live graffiti painting, a display of animated music lyrics, and a surprise performance by Riders Against The Storm. Since this was the Interactive portion of the SXSW conference, we also wanted to provide an activity for the smartphone obsessed techies at the party (which includes us geeks at Extensis) so we setup an account on SCVNGR.
SCVNGR is pretty simple – download the app on your smartphone, go places, do challenges, and earn rewards. We created a “place” along with challenges and rewards for our party in the SCNVR system, and handed out cards at the door with instructions. The challenges available at our party included watching a WebINK demo, name your favorite (or least favorite) typeface, enter in the name of a WebINK employee, and enter in the name of our product (brand awareness, am i right?). After players completed challenges the SCNVGR awarded and kept track of points which were used for rewards like free drinks from the bar, a chance to win an iPad, or VIP entry to the party for a friend without a SXSW badge.
The SCVNGR app included an activity tab which displayed real-time info about the party including pictures, challenge responses, and awards unlocked. It was very interesting to see what others were doing at the party, and several people seemed pretty into the game. With the focus on the “game layer” at this year’s SXSW along with keynote speech from SCVNGR’s Chief Ninja Seth Priebatsch, SCNVGR was a natural and engaging activity at the Graffiti Lounge.
